Dynasty Warriors Gundam For Great Justice
by Corim
Summary: This is what happens when some tiny little event way back when changes the entire course of Gundam.  It is also what happens when you shove nearly every single gundam timeline into a single continuity, change a few things, and run wild.  Good Luck, enjoy!
1. Not What You Think They Are

Chapter 1 Dynasty Warriors Gundam "For Great Justice"

Return of the Darkness

Featuring:

-The UC universe including many characters across series

-G Gundam

-Gundam Wing

-Gundam Seed and Destiny

-Gundam 00

-Any and all mobile suits (not counting minor variations) which appear within this fanfiction are represented as action figures or models from a variety of lines, all of which I actually own. The same is not true of the ships (simply because there are not enough of them and before this I never had enough interest to buy one)

This Series is co-crafted and much inspiration and work done by Thaeonblade (author of Mighty Morphin Mecha Rangers.) Most portrayals of villainous characters (especially Malicorans) were done by him.

Backstory: Zeon dropped more than one colony, feds still won, nobody knows where Amura Ray is, there was no Delaz Fleet or Operation Stardust, some variation of G Gundam and Gundam Wing occurred instead, Zeon (called Malicore) disappeared, the Federation left the earth because it was so poisoned, rather than do anything to fix it, Coordinators eventually appeared, rebelled against the corrupt Feds, were put down, most of them disappeared somewhere, but the feds still have to deal with terrorist incidents now and again, so they formed the Titans. Admiral Halberton of the 8th fleet didn't like the Titans and their elite attitude, so he commissioned the G-Project 2 (successor the original G-project that birthed the GP-01, 02, and 03) to build new gundams and a new ship for the regular forces. Following the Titans Australia Incident (in which the Titans nuked the rebuilt Sydney Australia) the ASAF, or Anti-Space Allied Fighters were formed. They found many sympathizers both with former Malicoran warriors and within the federation.

Episode 1 "Not what you think they are"

Solar Millennia 216, February 29th, 7:00 am Greenwich Mean Time

Lieutenant Mu La Flaga stood and saluted as he disembarked the Salamis Kai class cruiser that had transported him to the Green Noa 2, in the Heliopolis Colony Cluster. "It's been an honor to fly with you Captain. I hope that your retirement goes well."

The old man stood up himself and saluted the lieutenant. "It's been an honor to have such a famous pilot on my ship. And you're a good man too. Fly straight and true Lieutenant."

"Fly straight and true Captain." Lieutenant la Flaga released the salute and stepped off the bridge. It was time to head to his new posting and sort out the raw pilots he'd brought along. They were a bunch of green kids selected to pilot the new Gundam type suits the federation had developed. Mu wondered absently why the federation had decided to give them to a couple of green pilots, instead of proven veterans. Not that it mattered. It wouldn't surprise him if they were all politically connected.

He grabbed a drive rail and let it carry him off towards the car port. He'd take a car from there to the factory district. As he was letting the rail carry him along, a well-dressed gentleman came up with other way. He tipped his hat to Mu, and then winked at him. Mu nodded to the man. So, they were inside.

When he reached the car port, he saw that only one car was left. One woman and two male companions were about to grab it. Unfortunately for them, Mu couldn't afford to be late. "Excuse me," he said to them, running to catch up. "I'm going to need to commandeer that car. I have a date I can't miss. I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga."

"Ah, Lieutenant… Actually," started one of the two men. The women held up her hand and silenced him. Then she shuffled around in her pocket and pulled out an ID card. She held it up for him to examine. It identified her as Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. She was assigned to the Archangel. "Ah, Ensign. Well, if we have the same destination, I suppose that works." "Thank you sir. I was surprised to hear that you'd been assigned to the Archangel, I thought only the senior officers would be true veterans." She took a seat in the back while one of her companions drove. "It was a last minute decision. I came here with the pilots for the mobile suits, but unlike them I'm scheduled to report immediately. So what's with the civvies, Ensign?" She blinked, then calmly replied, "We were not on duty, and those of us who were already on the colony were told to move in civilian clothing. Our captain didn't want to draw the attention of the Titans. He doesn't like them, perhaps with good reason." Mu smiled at the comment. It was a pity what was going to happen. Both the captain and the ensign might have made good members for… well, it didn't matter. # # # Meanwhile, at the Morganroate division of Anaheim Electronics, a young man named Kira Yamato was sitting at a desk typing away. He was putting the finishing touches on an OS for the university's petite mobile suit, their entry in this year's competition. It saddened him to do so, and he let out a sigh. It was probably the last time he was going to be able to work on the suit, or work with the friends he had made here, after today. "Hey Kira, why do you look so down today? Is it because of that Flay girl? Don't tell me you fell for Sai's fiancé." Tolle Koenig was probably the one closest to Kira of the group, perhaps just because he didn't judge people. He took everything in stride, so he could warm up to anybody. That wasn't to say the others were not also Kira's friends. "It's not that Tolle. Today just seems… sad. We're practically finished with building it now. All that's left is a few lines of code." He looked at the petite MS they'd spent the last semester building. If it weren't for today, if it weren't for why he was here, next semester he'd be with them, trying to win their way to the inter colony championship. Instead… Miriallia Haw got a little sad herself when Kira expressed it like that. "I know what you mean. It is kinda sad afterall, isn't it?" A moment later Sai himself arrived. He had this forlorn look about him. He actually looked a little sadder than Kira did. "Hey Sai," Cuzzy said from his own desk. "You look kinda down man." "Flay is mad at me. That last letter I sent had bad timing," he replied, rubbing his head. He slumped down in a seat. "I sometimes do not get that girl." Kira finished typing in the code while he listened to the conversation turn towards Flay and Sai. He felt bad for Sai, as Flay seemed like a very difficult girl to handle. "Hey Cuzzy, I finished the programming. I'm transferring the OS to the unit, then I gotta go." "Oh? Do you have a date tonight Kira?" Tolle asked. Everyone turned their attention to Kira. He grinned nervously. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sort of," he replied. Kira supposed it was true. It was an appointment, and with a girl. Though of course, Cagali sometimes made him forget she was a girl. "So who's the lucky girl huh?" asked Miriallia. "Come on, share." Her sweet smile was possibly one of the scariest things Kira had ever seen. "Ah, well, I'll tell you if it goes well. If it doesn't, well…" "Ah… Come on, Kira, tell, tell!" Tolle egged him on, backing up his girlfriend. "Look, I'm gonna be late, I have to go!" Kira begged, and escaped out the door. Once on the other side, he breathed a sigh of relief, and headed for his rendezvous. Meanwhile, inside the room… "Ah… I wanted to find out who the lucky girl was," said Miriallia. Kira moved quickly towards the meeting place, over on the other side of the Morganroate division block. Cagalli, blond head of hair concealed under a cap and her profile disguised by a heavy jacket, was waiting for him. "Hey, Cagalli. Sorry I'm cutting it so close," he said, by way of greeting. She gave him a chilling look. "Cutting it close? Any closer and we'd be late!" then she softened into a smile. "But we aren't, so come on. The Titans are testing out their new MK II units at Green Noa 1, and they have it up on the monitor. I'm sure it'll be a shock for them, what's about to occur." "No kidding," he said, and followed her over to the observation platform. For the moment at least, they were just acting as spotters, but later on he'd be using his access key to get a few special individuals into the facilities. It was at that moment that one of the MK IIs crashed into a building near the camera. Kira and Cagalli flinched at the stupidity of the pilot. It was probable he'd just crushed several people to death on a training exercise. Crews came running, but Kira stopped watching when a beep came from his belt. "it's time. I'll let them in, just keep a watch on those Titan suits and also watch for the fed's security forces. Good luck." "I hardly need it. YOU need the luck more than I do," she said, and kissed his cheek. "So that's for good luck. Come back alive, or else, little brother." "Yes, mother," he teased her, and then he was off to meet up with their allies. Cagalli turned back to watch as the crashed pilot climbed out of his suit. A young woman pulled up in a jeep and started berating him. She called in the suit's position. If it took them a while to move it, it would be easy to capture. Then she noticed something… that couldn't be… but… an older man in a Captain's uniform ran up and started berating the pair of them. Was that Captain Bright of the White Base? Kira, meanwhile, was approaching the security entrance. The door was low security, it required only a security ID scan to gain entry. That was why it was chosen. Kira could get the team almost to the secure section housing the new ship, all without forging IDs or tripping alarms. "Hey Kira, glad you could make it," the strike commander said as Kira let them in. He handed Kira a handgun. "Lead the way, Ensign." Kira nodded. "This way," he said, and lead them deeper into the base. At the same time, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga was reporting to the captain of the Archangel. "Welcome Lieutenant. I'd welcome you aboard, but alas, we are not yet on the ship." He indicated the window behind him, which overlooked the magnificent ship, first of its line, derived from the White Base. It was quite magnificent, truly like a galloping Trojan horse. "What made you decide to join the Archangel, Lieutenant?" the captain asked him as the watched the crews making final checks on the ship. Mu scratched his head for a moment, then said, "I was tired of taking a back seat to everything. Supposedly I'm one of the few legitimate Ace pilots the Federation has at the moment, and yet ever since the battle of Endymion it's nothing but promotions and political appearances. I'm a pilot, I belong in the cockpit, not on the stage." The captain laughed heartily. Mu felt guilty, as while the feelings he expressed were true enough, it wasn't the reason he'd requested assignment to the Archangel. "Did you hear Green Noa I has been infiltrated by an unknown mobile suit team? The base is on high alert, but we've seen no activity in our sector." "I hadn't heard yet sir. Do you think they're planning to take out the Titan's base?" Mu asked, wondering what his shortly to be ex-captain thought on the subject. "I doubt it. Not the whole base, reports indicate only 3 mobile suits. Hardly enough to take out an entire base." "I agree sir, 3 couldn't take out a whole base without a lot of backup. Are you saying they really only sent 3?" "Intelligence indicates that's it, 3 mobile suits is all they've sent, not even a support infiltration team."

Shortly, he was dismissed, and he checked his watch. It was time. He moved towards the door where he was supposed to meet the infiltration team. He was still on schedule, but it would take another few minutes to reach the door.

When he did, he checked his watch again. One minute to go. It was almost time to shake up this world and make it realize it could sleep no longer. He counted off the time. 3, 2, 1… "Knock Knock Knock… Knock…Knock Knock." The signal. He hit the release button and the hatch opened. There was the kid and the strike team. "Hey Kira, glad you could make it."

"Mu! Good to see you!" Mu chuckled shook Kira's hand. Then he shook the strike leader's hand. "Oh, Mu, this is Sergeant Bahm."

"So, the Hawk of Endymion really is on our side. When I heard who was going to be meeting us, I could hardly credit it. The unofficial Prince of Orb and one of the last great heroes of the federation, both on our side. Quite the twist, huh?" One of the soldiers snickered.

Then the alarm klaxons suddenly went dead and shockwaves shout through the entire structure. The lights died as well. Mu, looking back down the hall as the shockwave left, said, "What in the? That wasn't us, was it?"

The sergeant shook his head. "We didn't want to risk damaging the ship, so no, we weren't planning to use explosives… and if that wasn't us…" he left the word hanging. There wasn't supposed to BE anyone else besides ASAF's forces at this infiltration. The federation had supposedly crushed everything else before it really got off the ground. The battle of Endymion, 3 years past, was the last major engagement the federation had suffered.

The Lieutenant's comm sounded. Hoping to learn something useful, he answered. "This is La Flaga, what's going on?"

"Lieutenant, the Colony is under attack by unknown units. We've lost contact with the rest of the Morganroate block, where the explosions resulted. So far, you're the only responder. Can you tell us what's occurring over there?" It was the comm officer from the Salamis Kai that brought him here, the _Dominic Deegan_.

"I'm in a different section from the ship, and I have no idea what's happened. I'll investigate, but if you're saying the colony is being attacked, can you send my Zephyranthes to using the cargo rail? I'll meet it at the secondary cargo port connected to the Morganroate block."

Silence for a moment, then, "The captain said it'll be sent. We'll buy what time we can. Good Luck Lieutenant."

"You two, don't get killed." He closed the comm line, then turned to the strike team. "I should be out there already, but… come on, I'll lead you in, the units may still be intact."

"Mu, if you take the Zephyranthes, you can't pilot the Strike unit 2 out. That will make things a little more difficult. But I can handle it. Go, Mu." Kira knew Mu felt torn, because it was his decision to betray the federation, and now it must seem like a lot of people were going to die because he wasn't in his suit.

"This situation also means we may not be able to wait for the other strike teams to arrive. We've gotta move now, sirs," Sergeant Bahm added. Mu nodded to him.

"Alright, let's go. I'll guide you in, then I'll retrieve the Zephyranthes and engage this unknown. Just do your jobs and don't get killed, got it?" he asked. They nodded.

It was terrible. The entire hidden docking port was in terrible condition, blown to pieces, bodies everywhere.

"What the hell?" Mu said again as he got a look at it. Kira put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mu, we can't stop now. I see activity near the ship." Indeed, several individuals were heading for the ship. They were wearing Federation uniforms. One of them was Ensign Badgiruel from before.

"Right. I'm heading for the cargo port to grab the Zephyranthes. Sneak onto the ship, grab one of the Strikes, and take the ship if you can."

"Got it. Go Mu. Good luck."

"I'm the Hawk of Endymion. I don't need luck."

Mu headed off for the cargo port to meet his suit.

Meanwhile, Kira and the strike team snuck towards the Archangel. "Look, there," said one of the commandos. "The launch hatch is open. We can sneak in that way." Kira nodded, and the sergeant lead the team in. They actually made it just before the hatch quite suddenly closed. "All hands, prepare for combat, man your stations. This is Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. As the only remaining officer, I'm taking command of the ship. We will be making a forceful exit from this dock, brace for impact."

"Is she crazy?" asked one of the commandos as the engines engaged.

"It doesn't matter, we need to get into the main section of the ship. If she's really the last officer on board, then our job just got easier," Kira stated. "Come on." He led the way deeper into the ship, and into the passage to the mobile suit Hangar. There, standing in their stations, were the two Strike Gundams. The strike commander was supposed to steal the ship itself, while Kira and Mu commandeered the Strike units. Using those, they would break out of the colony, destroying the other prototype mobile suits, the Buster Gundams and the Justice, and leave. This was to have occurred simultaineously with the strike against the Titans at Green Noa 1 by Lieutenant Quattro.

"Well, just about everything is shot to hell. I'll secure the Strike Unit One. Get in position to take the ship when the timing is best." Kira was careful as he wound his way around the bay towards Unit one. He was wearing the uniform of one of the engineering crew, as planned, in order to not look conspicuous.

"Hey, you!" Kira turned towards the guy who had shouted. Yep, shouting at him.

"Sir?" he asked, stopping, gauging whether he'd need to make a run for it. The strike team wasn't in the hangar bay, so he couldn't expect backup, unless… It was Chief Murdoc, their inside man. "Sir, good to see you, I only just made it in before the hatches were closed."

He added the salute based signal. Murdoc eyed him, then nodded. "Glad you're alive. Go check the status on Unit one. I want to know it's not damaged from the explosions."

"I'll check sir," Kira replied, and moved off towards Unit One. He took the lift up, and then he heard the proximity alarms. Clutching the Gundam's frame, he waited out the vibrations as the ship broke out of the dock.

Mu shuddered as vibrations shook the colony, then he finished climbing into the cockpit. "Lieutenant, glad you could make it. The enemy is attack with Cyclops mobile suits, we've barely held them off. An unknown blue suit we've designated "Rogue 1" moving at extremely high speeds has engaged the enemy, and we've confirmed that mobile suits invaded Green Noa 1."

"Damnit. I'm heading out there, keep me informed." The RX-78 GP -01 "Zephyranthes" stood up from the cargo rail, as it came to a stop at the dock at the other end of the colony. "Open the hatch, I'm taking the Gundam out."

"This is Docking control. Good Luck Lieutenant. Fly Straight and Fly True."

"Thanks Docking Control. I'm heading out." The hatch opened, and Mu La Flaga opened up the throttle and his mobile suit hurtled into space. He turned sharply, feeling the G-forces as he hurtled around the Colony towards the battle at the other entrance.

"Lieutenant La Flaga… it's… we've just identified "Rogue 1." It's the Tallgeese, sir." So Zechs was on the move. He had already guessed what suit it was, but the Mu La Flaga who had not betrayed the federation wouldn't know that.

"The Tallgeese? Holy shit, somebody can actually pilot that thing?" he said, faking shock and surprise, then cursed under his breath. "I'm on my way, just don't tell me to try shooting it down. The two suits don't compare."

"You probably won't have to do that unless it starts attacking the federation. So far, it's only engaged the Cyclops types. We've got you on sensors now, despite minovsky interference. You'll enter the combat zone in 2 minutes."

"Roger that." Cyclops types? The coordinator forces had used Cyclops types, but they shouldn't have the resources for something like this. It couldn't be… it had been nearly a 50 years since Malicore had been heard from. 50 years since the end of the One Year War. Damn, could this really be happening?

He increased the zoom on his camera to get a better look at the battle as he waited out the time until he hit effective range. All he could see was a bunch of zooming lights, and then one of them slowed for just a moment, and he saw it, the Tallgeese.

End Episode 1


	2. So Much is Red

Episode 2 "So Much is Red."

Sometime earlier…

Zechs Merquise calmly slowed his breathing as he waited inside his suit. His world slowly rotated along with the Tallgeese as it floated in space, in a very specific location relative to the colony pair of Green Noa One and Two. There was no sound within his cockpit. All was stillness, all was at peace. He watched the colony spin into view, and the Salamis Kai dock to deliver Lieutenant Mu la Flaga to his destination.

He watched as Lieutenant Quattro began his infiltration of Green Noa 1. He waited patiently, because everything was going according to plan. All he needed to do was wait. Eventually, he switched on hijacked federation comm frequencies, to listen to the Space Federation get a wakeup call.

As he listened to their radio chatter, the Tallgeese's sensors picked up something unusual, a group of meteors behaving oddly. He clicked a button and moved the camera so it zoomed in on the meteors. Those weren't meteors… and they weren't part of the plan. Well, he was the insurance, and this was a snag. It was time to do his job… or was it? He scanned the area and checked for the locations of the decoy mines he'd placed in the area. They were in position and one of them was near the path of the fake meteors. Close enough, Zechs thought. He detonated it.

On the Space Federation ship _Dominic Deegan,_ the Petty Officer at the sensor station noticed the energy signature of the explosion. "Sir, ship's sensors just detected an explosion near the colony. Over here, where these meteors are passing through." He indicated the region, highlighting it and the meteors.

"Sir," the comm officer said, "The colony is asking if we saw that."

"SIR!" the sensor officer said, excited and with a measure of fear, "Detecting new energy signatures! Those aren't meteors, those are mobile suits. They're breaking camouflage… accelerating to attack speed… sir, their attacking us!" he reported.

"Take us to level 1! All crew to their stations, alert the colony. Helm, get us out of here, we need room to maneuver. Deploy our mobile suits, alert Lieutenant La Flaga!"

"Sir, we're getting reports, the colony just lost contact with Morganroate! Power is down in that block! I'm attempting to raise the lieutenant on his personal comm line… I've opened a channel!" the comm officer reported excitedly.

Meanwhile, the sensor officer was tracking the enemy. "I read 6 enemy units, types unknown… wait… I've identified 3 of them, their Rick Doms sir. The other three suits aren't in the database!"

"Sir, Romeo team deployed. Their moving to engage!"

"Sir, Lieutenant La Flaga has asked us to send him the Zephyranthes using the Cargo rail," the comm officer reported.

The captain nodded. "Have the engineers get it ready and take it out of the ship onto the elevator, tell them to pilot it themselves if they have to. Get us out of this dock, we need to cover the Romeo team and engage those suits!"

Zechs watched the Federation launch mobile suits and their Salamis Kai begin exiting the colony as the unidentified suits broke their cover and started attacking. The battle very quickly turned against the Federation. The Salamis Kai carried only 1 GM Custom II, the other suits assigned to it were all space use Leos, effectively outdated by the modern standard. Unlike the Leos, it appeared whoever was using those Cyclops types had kept them up to new standards, as the Leos simply couldn't keep up.

The ASAF inside the colony were going to need more time… which meant he'd have to intervene afterall. Besides, he still had a fondness for Leos. He aimed his Dobergun carefully, and let off a single shot straight through one of the units that looked like a Rick Dom. The shot took its arm off, but the unit successfully dodged the real power of the attack. However, by the time it turned to try and locate him, he was already rocketing towards the battle at high speeds. His shots had the desired effect, as the two sides backed off from each other. He dived at the unknown models and fired his Dobergun again, spinning out of the way of an incoming beam. His shot took out one of the unidentified suits, leaving 4 intact enemies and 1 damaged enemy.

The Tallgeese spun and accelerated back "up" and dodged a rocket and 2 beams as it examined the enemy. Zechs was buying time as much as anything, so he was going to do this carefully. He'd finish off the wounded first. He fired once at the enemy suits to stop them flanking him before he could finish his maneuver, and dived at the damaged Rick Dom, feeling the Tallgeese strain against him. He deployed his beam saber and with one strike cleaved it in two at high speeds. It exploded behind him as he came back around, sheathing his beam saber and firing off another shot from the Dobergun, crippling one of the Rick Doms by taking off its legs. Then one of their beam shots hit his shield, and he swerved. They rapidly became more accurate, meaning he'd lost his element of surprise, but he still wasn't worried.

That changed when his sensors picked up 3 more suits incoming, and then the battleship came into view. "Damn," Zechs muttered, and dodged again. The two unknowns moved into a pursuit pattern while the Rick Dom began fighting the remaining Leo and the GM-Custom II. It caught the GM Custom II by surprise with a bull rush, and cleaved it in two with a sword strike, however, the Leo, mounting a cut down Dobergun, managed to hold it at bay as its own ship joined the battle.

The Tallgeese charged at ludicrous speeds towards the 3 incoming suits, not firing his Dobergun, as they would mean losing speed. He was going to make this a melee fight. The Tallgeese deployed its beam saber as he weaved through a barrage of incoming fire, one shot nicking it but causing only cosmetic damage. It rapidly closed the distance, and the 3 incoming suits scattered to give their allies a clear field of fire. The Tallgeese climbed with the center suit, coming up below it even as it deployed its own doublesided beam saber. He was simply too fast for it, and he removed its leg, part of its skirt thrusters and its shield arm, all on the left side, in one pass. The Suit used its powerful verniers to come to a dangerously fast stop and spun around, taking a single shot with its Dober gun that blew the suit into a million pieces.

In his mind, due to its rather unique style of beam saber, Zech's dubbed the unknown suits "Sabers." He accelerated away from the fight for just a moment, then came around so that all the enemies were in front of him, that way, he could no longer be flanked or caught from behind.

The pilots were hardly amateurs, but Zechs was the Lightning Count. He ignored the attempts by the federation Salamis Kai to raise him, and focused on his immediate enemies. The enemies battleship had yet to open fire, but he suspected that was because they might be focused on the Salamis Kai. He decided he needed the help for a while longer, so he sent the ship's data to their ship over the hailing frequency they'd tried to raise him on, warning them of its existence, since it's positioning behind a small asteroid probably shielded it from their sensors.

The enemy Battleship fired, but the Salamis Kai dodged and returned fire while it's last remaining Leo continued fending off the Rick Dom. The 4 remaining Saber suits were all focused on Zechs, which was fine by him. It was about then he detected 2 more incoming suits, one from each side. One was a GP-01 unit, coming from the direction of the colony. The other was an unknown white suit moving very fast, though not as fast as himself.

Mu sensed something strange, a flash of unease and malevolence just as he reached the very edge of the battlefield.

The Zephyranthes fired at the Rick Dom from long range. It didn't hit, it didn't need to. The mobile suit dodged his shot, forcing it to veer off its attempt to attack the Leo. Sadly for the Rick Dom, this second shot was not intended to miss, as it suddenly found itself in the path of a second shot, fired from a second rifle, moments after the first shot was fired. Very few pilots could handle aiming and firing with 2 highly accurate beam rifles at once and hit _anything_, much less a mobile suit moving at high speeds from kilometers away.

With that opening salvo, the Zephyrathes entered the fray, and then it saw the Tallgeese again, now that Mu's attention was no longer diverted. 5 mobile suits harassed the Tallgeese, including a white MS of unknown design, distinctly different from the Blue and green suits also attacking it. Mu dubbed them "Shields," because they were the first Cyclops types he'd ever seen use a proper shield.

_That one_, Mu thought. _It's the source of these feelings…_ Mu gave a nod to the Leo as he passed, noting who its pilot was. _The rookie? Really?_ Mu put the Zephyranthes into a climb, to get a better angle of attack on the shields and the white one. "Hey, Price, good work surviving. Hang back kid, and protect the ship."

"But sir, I'm still fully functional," Price complained.

"And I want you to stay that way, so you can save my ass when I get in trouble. Got it?" Mu said to him as the Zephyranthes began its dive into battle, dual wielding beam rifles. Mu fired 2 shots at the same suit, the one at the rear. It dodged one but the other tagged its leg. One of its buddies broke off pursuit of the Tallgeese to face Mu.

It was very skilled, using its shield to soak up Beam this it couldn't dodge, and firing from behind the shield at the relatively more exposed Zephyranthes. Rather than deploy his shield, Mu continued duel wielding and simply targeted its friend, who had already lost a leg and thus stability. He dodged and fired together, using his superior spatial awareness and coordination to keep ahead of the pair, until one shot took the already damaged suit through the main camera. That was when he pounced, deploying his beam saber and charging in, one arm still firing a rifle. The other suit deployed its own very odd looking Saber, but Mu didn't engage.

He boosted under the enemy at the last second, spun up, fired off a shot, and then grabbed its disabled friend. "Sorry about this, buddy," he said to the unlucky pilot, and hurled it at its ally, who cut it down rather than dodge. Mu had time only for a passing astonishment at the brutality before he had closed and shoved a beam saber through its chest, then boosted away as it exploded.

Zechs wasn't having as much luck, mostly because he was nearly being cornered. The "Sabers" he could handle, but this white suit was much faster than its allies and its pilot was quite probably on his level… which essentially negated his advantages. That changed when a pair of beams disrupted the dual formation of the two remaining "Sabers," and a Zephyranthes, belonging to one Lieutenant Mu la Flaga, entered the fray.

"Hey! I don't know who you are buddy, but you fight good and you saved my ship. So I'm going to give you a hand, if that's ok," a voice, Mu's, said over the comm system.

Zech allowed a little smile to cross his lips, and then, for the first time since battle was joined, spoke aloud. "Sounds good," was all he said, as the Zephyranthes put its back to the Tallgeese's own back, and the pair faced the trio of enemies.

Meanwhile…

Inside the colony, near a bridge, 4 mobile suit trailers were under heavy assault. A pair of "Sabers" were helping to eliminate the remaining opposition while 4 young people in red pilot suits climbed aboard the 4 available suits.

Dearka Elsman was the first to activate his unit, and the Buster rose from its prone position. "Hurry it up guys, we haven't got all day. Get those units online already!" to stall for him, he tested each of his weapons systems without firing. He opened his missile pods, spun the Vulcans, and double checked the pair of huge ass guns strapped to his back.

"Shut it Dearka," Yzak replied angrily, as he furiously typed away inside the Ronin Gundam. His own suit, which looked like a knockoff of the Burning Gundam built with parts, such as the arm guards, feet, and head, of the Shining Gundam. That, of course, was basically what the Ronin was, but alas it had no mobile trace system, as the Federation simply didn't _understand_ how the system worked, so they'd replaced it with a standard cockpit design. "Rusty! Hurry up! What's taking you so long?"

"I got shot, dumbass, that's what's taking so long!" The redheaded pilot said. The Shadow Gundam, also rebuilt using a standard cockpit instead of the incomprehensible mobile trace system, stood up ominously. "There! Happy, Yzak?" Rusty replied, annoyed. He winced at the pain in his shoulder, but it was already wrapped up, so there was nothing to be done.

"Athrun, what's taking so long?" Dearka asked their final companion.

Athrun fired again at the woman as she retreated from the cockpit. "Some woman was holed up in the cockpit. I'm getting in now," he said as he climbed towards the cockpit.

"You didn't kill her?" Yzak asked as he fired his Vulcans at the retreating feds.

"Not the mission," replied Athrun. It was the absolute truth. Now that she was no longer an obstacle, she didn't matter. "I'll be up in a minute."

"Hurry it up. Jeeze, you reds are supposed to be hot stuff," one of the Gelgoog pilots said as they flew past. "We've secured the entire enterior. There's nothing left in here but us to…"

As he spoke, a hill about one kilometer further into the colony exploded, and a massive legged warship flew out of the resulting hole.

Within that warship…. "Status report !" shouted Ensign Badgiruel.

"We've cleared the bay, retracting the Lohengren."

"Wait, are those… Enemy mobile suits detected! 2 unknowns, and 4 more suits on the bridges… reading, it's the Ronin, Shadow, Buster, and Justice!"

"What?" Natarle asked, shocked. "The enemy is attacking the gundams?"

"No, it's… I think they're stealing them! The Units aren't moving and the two flying suits are not attacking. They're landing… and turning for us. Crap."

Natarle pulled up the ship's intercom. "Attention all Crew, Level 1 battle stations, Enemy mobile suits sighted! We are being engaged by enemy hostiles! All available crew to level 1 battle stations!"

To Kira, that was both one of the worst things he could hear, and one of the best. The worst, because it meant not just a fight on his hands, but a bad one. If there were enemy suits inside the colony, they shouldn't belong to the ASAF… which meant whoever blew up the command crew was probably piloting them. It was good news, because it gave him an excuse to do what he was about to do.

He'd practically fallen into the cockpit when the ship broke out of the dock, and he was already typing, cracking the codes and changing passcodes. There, done. Now, to do something crazy. "This is the Strike Unit One, open the hatch, I'll engage the enemy." He entered the hatch override commands he'd been supplied with. "Thanks," he said.

"Who is this? Get out of that suit, you aren't authorized for that action. Stop him," Natarle shouted at the CIC, but it was no use, he couldn't get the hatch to close, and Kira ignored her commands. She didn't worry him. However, without the bridge, Kira was stuck with the Strike's default configuration… which meant no striker packs.

That left Kira worried about one little thing… the strike's default only had daggers and the Vulcans as weapons, otherwise, it's only ability was… there it was, the fed's new toy, phase shift armor. It let them use lighter and cheaper materials than Gundanium, which meant less weight, more room for fuel and less fuel burned. He activated the Phase Shift armor as the Strike manually deployed out of the hatch to face down the enemy suits.

The Ship opened fire, and let fly several missiles at the enemy suits, but, firing their beam weapons and moving overland at high speeds, they both dodged and shot down the incoming fire. Still, it bought Kira several precious seconds to hide behind the smoke and light from the barrage.

They didn't see him. They knew he was somewhere, but where was a question one of them never got to answer in time. Kira came out of the smoke with both daggers to hand, moving quite fast, too fast for the surprised unknown to react. He caught and blocked the sweeping hand holding the rifle, and then shoved the shield aside in order to headbutt the enemy suit. That damaged its main camera, and with those few extra seconds of blindness he stabbed it several times with the knives and shot it with the Vulcans. Then he stashed his knives, stole its beam rifle, and laughed when it didn't work. So he stole the shield off the fallen machine and caught the other suit's attack.

To say that the 3 who witnessed this takedown were shocked would be an understatement. They could hardly believe that one suit, armed with nothing but knives, had just taken down a Malicoran warrior without even getting hit himself. It was ridiculous, impossible, it was… "What the hell is this?" Yzak yelled, angry beyond all confusion. "Some dumb unarmed feddy mobile suit with a fed pilot just killed Boaz? That's freaking ridiculous!"

"All of you, just get those suits out of here. I'll handle this guy. He got Boaz by surprise, he won't catch me. Now go already!" the pilot ordered them, as he and his Gelgoog turned to face down the Strike.

"Did he just?" asked the helmsman, Arnold Neumann. He was staring out the window, as the Strike borrowed the shield of the downed suit. It jumped away as the suit exploded, the pilot rocketing out of the suit just before.

"Yeah, he just took one of those things down with knives. Damn, who is this kid?" Tonomura, in charge of enemy tracking, asked.

"It doesn't matter right now," Natarle said, irritated. "Destroy that unknown first! The gundams still aren't moving?" she asked Tonomura.

"No Ma'am, they… yes they are! The gundams are moving. The Ronin, Shadow, and Buster are mobile."

Natarle cursed. "Can we hit that mobile suit with the Gottfrieds?" she asked Romero. "That should take it out better than the CIWS."

"No Ma'am, the guns don't have the incline…"

Natarle cursed again. "Fire missiles! Load tubes A through F and fire!"

"Firing now! It's shooting them down… wait, is he crazy?" The entire bridge crew watched as the Strike Gundam tackled the unknown mobile suit, shoving it into the path of the oncoming missiles.

Yzak, Dearka, Athrun, and Rusty watched the same scene, just as astonished. They heard the last order come over the comm as the first three launched into the air. "Get those suits out of here! Mali Malicore!" he screamed as the missiles impacted on his suit.

"Mali Malicore! For the fallen!" Shouted Yzak, but the Shadow blocked his path.

"You heard him Yzak! We're leaving! Besides, that guy's dead too," Rusty argued.

"Damnit! Fine!" Yzak said, and the Shadow and Ronin lifted off.

As they began to lift away, before Athrun or Dearka could follow, something white came hurtling out of the smoke. It was the Strike, intact, strong, moving fast and coming for _them._

"How did he?" Dearka started, but Athrun and the Justice shot forward, catching one hand and blocking the other as the Strike attacked with its Armor Schneider. "Go! All of you! I'll hold it off!"

"I can't let you do that!" Kira shouted. "For the sake of Freedom, I can't let you take those suits."

The others took off, leaving Athrun behind. "Kill that bastard Athrun, or don't come back! Do you hear me!" Yzak shouted at him as they moved off towards where they were supposed to be.

Athrun, however, felt a paused pass through his heart and his mind. The voice he heard from the Strike, a voice from the past. A friend, a loyal soldier of Malicore, long ago dead. How? He wondered. How could that voice still be heard? "Who are you?" he shouted, as the two mobile suits wrestled. The Justice, like the Strike, had Phase Shift Armor.

"It doesn't matter! You can't take those suits!" Kira shouted, as the Strike grappled with the Justice.

"Athrun! Kill him or leave him! Let's GO!" shouted Dearka, as he fired a shot at the Strike. It bounced off the Strike's armor, but knocked the suit back. Athrun, clearing his head for the moment, fired his weapons at the strike and launched into the air.

The Strike lost an arm to the Justice, but Kira immediately retreated towards the Archangel as it fired off its numerous weapons as the now airborne stolen gundams. Some small part of his mind enjoyed the fact that the Earth Federation was unknowingly helping him steal both the suit and the ship, by protecting both.

Kira watched the stolen mobile suits leave as the Archangel landed near him. He began scanning to make sure no additional enemies were about, and frowned when he saw a group of huddles civilians… that couldn't be… could it? No, it was. Damnit. Then the colony shuddered. Kira looked up. The fleeing gundams had blasted a hole in the colony to make their escape, rather than take the long way out. Those damn cowards!

"Sai, Tolle, Mir, Kuzzy! Hold on guys, I've got you," Kira said, as the Strike used its remaining arm to scoop them up before the wind could drag them away. Mir screamed and they struggled for a moment. Quickly disguising his voice, he said, "Hold still, you four. I'm trying to keep you from getting sucked out into space." He breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped struggling. He was amazed with the dexterity of the suit, it could pick up and so delicately hold 4 humans with no protection. He'd reacted without thinking, and he'd gotten lucky when they weren't crushed.

On the bridge, Natarle could hardly believe it. "He beat them both… and then… Shit. Has the colony's alert level gone up yet? Those bastards just blasted a hole in it. Don't they care about all the people here? Quickly, retrieve the Strike." The day just kept getting worse and worse and worse. _What else could go wrong?_ She wondered.

"He's retur… wait, no he's heading for the mobile suit trailers. Ma'am, I think there are still some of our people over there." A group of soldiers in jeeps and on foot were approaching.

"Land the Ship! We'll pick up the strike and any remaining troops we can."

"Ma'am, wouldn't that leave us vulnerable?"

"Perhaps, but we can't abandon all our troops like that," Natarle said, deciding that it was a risk worth taking.

Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, clutching her shoulder, led the group of soldiers behind her towards the relative safety of the Archangel. By some chance or miracle, or perhaps because some god wished to "reward" her in the method that would cause her the most guilt, nearly all of them were the soldiers who were actually part of the ASAF. Somebody honked a horn, and she looked up to see a second group of federation soldiers riding in some jeeps and missile trucks, heading for the Archangel as well. Riding in the lead jeep was a civilian in brown clothes, with a brown cap covering his head. Oh, right.

It began to seem that, despite the numerous setbacks to the original plan, they were still going to pull most of it off. "Attention Archangel, this is lieutenant Murrue Ramius. I have wounded. Please, respond."

The Archangel landed, but Kira remained outside for the moment, waiting to see how the winds would swing. His friends were now on the ground at his feet. He could see both Miss Murrue and Cagalli approaching with federation forces. He was unsure about the troops with Miss Murrue, but those approaching with Cagalli had to be another strike team, disguised as Federation soldiers.

About a third of the ship's original complement was to consist of their sympathizers, with several strike teams to join the takeover… but now it was unclear just how many of the soldiers left onboard were with the ASAF.

"Lieutenant Ramius, this is the Archangel, we're reading you loud and clear. Welcome aboard. Oh, and we're glad to hear you're still alive." Dalida sighed and closed the comm. He looked up when Ensign Badgiruel stood up. "Ma'am?" he asked, as she started for the door. "What are you?"

"I'm going to meet the Lieutenant, as of now, she's the highest ranked officer on the ship, so I need to hand over control of the ship to her. Gentlemen, thank you. Also, keep your eyes peeled." He watched her leave the bridge and shook his head, chuckling.

"Quit laughing, Dalida. She's just doing her job, and be damned thankful she is, or we'd be in worse trouble than we are," Neumann said from the helm.

When Murrue actually got on board, she was greeted with a salute from a young ensign. She'd never met her before, but she certainly looked professional. She returned the salute. "Who are you? Is the captain on the bridge?"

"I am Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. I am currently Acting Captain of the Archangel due to the deaths or unknown status of all other officers aboard the ship. However, with your arrival, I am no longer the ranking officer, and thus I am no longer Acting Captain. Captain, what are your orders?" she asked.

Murrue tried to gauge the women. It was obvious from the battle she had some idea what she was doing, although sending the Strike out… wait, maybe that hadn't been her decision, that might have been Kira, or Lieutenant La Flaga.

"Uh, right. What's our status?" she asked, shoving the most burning question aside for the sake of the act. "And follow me to the bridge. You men!" she shouted to squad of soldiers coming out of one of the hallways. She recognized Bahm. "Help get the remaining equipment and the wounded on board. Take the civilians too, but put a guard on them. We need to move quickly."

She turned back to the ensign as they set off for the bridge. Ensign Badgiruel began her report as they walked, saying, "We've got only a fraction of the crew we should. Most of the engineers were on board when the explosions took out the captain, but a large portion of the crew is dead. I only have a few of the bridge crew and myself accounted for from among them. That squad must have boarded just before we left, or just before the explosions, I don't remember them. The ship itself is in near perfect condition."

Well that part was a relief. "Who was piloting the Strike? Why didn't it have any of the Striker packs equipped?"

"One of the engineers, someone young, took it out. He overroad the hatch, but he couldn't deploy the Striker packs without the bridge, so he didn't wait around for us to cooperate." That meant it was almost definitely Kira.

"He's good. When we get to the bridge, I'll need to ask him to stay on standby. We'll have the engineers fix the arm as quickly as possible," Murrue was not supposed to be in command of the ship when they stole it, that job had belonged to the ship's original XO. But if she was indeed the highest ranking officer remaining, she'd take what she had and run with it.

They entered the bridge shortly, and she began relaying orders. Kira, meanwhile, complied and stayed with the Strike, docking it back in its station and watching as the engineers started work on the arm. Then he had a thought. "Bridge, do you want me to switch to Unit Two? Its arms are fully functional."

Murrue mulled it over, then, for the sake of her act, decided, "No. You've done well with one unit, but while I have no choice but to rely on you right now, I'm not giving you access to the second unit. Remain there."

"Yes Sir, Captain," Kira replied. Natarle actually breathed a sigh of relief. She disagreed with leaving this unknown prodigy inside of unit one, but she could see the reasoning. Allowing him access to Unit Two as well would have just been insane. Natarle had taken control of the CIC now that Lieutenant Murrue was serving as Captain. She had no idea of what was to come.

Outside, a battle raged. Before the Buster had blown a hole in the colony to allow their fast exit, Lieutenant Mu la Flaga of the SF2 and Zechs Merquise of the ASAF had gone toe to toe with an unknown white mobile suit and 2 other mobile suits of different design, also unknown.

The two remaining unknown suits had very skilled pilots, as they had yet to be killed or even seriously damaged, working in sync with the white suit. Zechs, more familiar with older style mobile suits, had realized it bore a striking resemblance to a Zaku.

The Zephyranthes clashed saber to Beam Hawk against the enemy suit, neither seeming to have a clear advantage as despite the enemy's large boosters, the Zephyranthes was lighter and required less power to maneuver. In addition, Mu had a sixth sense about his opponent's movements. He'd never liked the term, but he had been called…

"Is that you, Mu la Flaga?" A voice said. The pilot of the enemy suit. "It is, isn't it? The Hawk of Endymion, one of the last _real_ Gundam pilots the Federation has left. Oh now this IS an honor." Damnit, that voice. Who the hell was this guy?

"Shut up!" He parried a slash and fired his remaining beam rifle, but the bastard blocked it with a shield and pulled back. Mu cursed. The pair of them were locked up with these 3, and now another enemy ship had appeared, along with an additional 3 suit team of Rick Doms. They were engaging the _Dominic Deegan_ and it wasn't faring well. Wait, was that… a Musai? Shit, were these guys really Malicore?

He'd bought himself a moment of breathing room, and he fired at the Rick Doms engaging the _Deegan_'s last remaining Leo. He tried to join the fight, but it was no good, the white bastard got in his way. The Tallgeese followed his example, but its path was similarly blocked.

Then a trio of new shots were fired, and Mu looked behind him. A red mobile suit, similar in design to a Rick Dom, though hardly the same, and 2 black ones of the same design were heading this way along with a pair of purple… those had to be the Mk IIs. About damn time, too.

The shots disrupted the Doms' formation, but they still took the Leo's arm out, removing its last weapon. Price was a sitting duck, and with him, the ship. However, the Rick Dias, for they couldn't be anything else, were moving fast and unlike himself, their path was unobstructed. They might just make it.

Lieutenant Quattro observed the pair 6 suits as they approached. 2 Gelgoogs, something that looked like a zaku, and 3 Rick Doms, against the Zephyranthes, the Tallgeese, and a badly damaged Leo. He cursed.

"Apolly, Roberto! Get The Mk IIs to the Argama! I'm going to cover the Tallgeese." He kicked in the afterburners and fired off another beam shot towards the Doms. He'd reach the battlefield soon, and the Federation warship, while not a friendly, was immensely useful as a distraction. He could see why it had not been shot down.

Quite abruptly, as if in response to his own sudden arrival, a beam lanced out from the resource asteroid behind which the Malicorans had hidden their warship. It took the Salamis Kai through the bridge, then cut down further into the ship. Just as the beam cut out, the ship exploded.

Quattro could only stare in horror, then he quickly turned towards the source of the beam. A brilliant crimson Rick Dom, looking slightly customized, had cast off its cloak and was holding some kind a huge beam cannon, the source of the shot. It lifted off the asteroid and came straight for him at full speed. He felt something, anger, frustration, jealousy, as it charged him, deploying its sword. He met its attack with his own beam saber.

"Damn! Who the hell are you?"

"You don't know? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Nobody knows! Nobody EVER KNOWS WHO I AM!" the pilot cackled, and started swinging rapidly. Quattro was forced to block, having nothing else to do.

"Lieutenant Quattro! We have a problem!" Roberto suddenly reported. "It's the Albion! Anavel Gato and Kou Uraki are here!" he reported with fear shaking his voice. "There's also another of those weird ships these Cyclopses are using! Lieutenant Emma's been hit, and Apolly and I are being overwhelmed."

"Damn," Quattro said, and switched to a different channel. "Zechs, grab that feddy turncoat and head for the Argama. We're being boxed, we've got to take what we can get!" Quattro said as he disengaged from the red Dom and shot upwards. "Argama, we need backup!" he added. The Argama, almost as if it had read his thoughts, though more probably the battlefield, fired its main cannon straight threw the enemy mobile suit formation, taking out all 3 Rick Doms and one Gelgoog.

It was at that moment the Buster blew a hole in the side of the colony and the trio, Athrun soon following, made their escape. Mu cursed, and fired on them, thinking it couldn't be the ASAF, they would never be that careless, so it had to be a non-friendly.

He dived for the hole, catching the white suit by surprise just enough it failed to stop him. When it moved to engage Zechs blocked its path. Mu had made his decision, Zechs could buy him a few seconds.

The Zephyranthes attacked the escaping units, but they all dodged. Mu blew right past them into the interior of the colony. Turning, he fired off several web shots to slow the escaping air. Once inside, he saw the Archangel. Finally, a stroke of luck. "Archangel, this is Lieutenant Mu la Flaga, the situation outside is bad. You need to get out of here!" he said.

"Lieutenant la Flaga, we're in dire straits ourselves. Most of the crew is dead, we're badly undermanned," he heard a voice reply.

"I have a feeling they'll be back if we don't hurry this up," he said. "Grab what you can but don't be greedy."

"We'll have all the men and equipment on board momentarily, Lieutenant, thank you for the advice. Can you cover us until we lift off?"

"I can try. The Captain told me that the Strike Units were already on board. Can't you launch them?"

"We came across a pilot for one unit by chance, but it's damaged, and due to unusual circumstances we cannot transfer him to the other unit."

"Great," Mu said, getting that feeling of unease back. "This just keeps getting better."

Back outside the colony, Zechs had really opened up the throttle and he was hurtling towards the Argama and Lieutenant Quattro. Apolly and Roberto were dead. They died defending the damaged Mk II against several Saber suits, when Kou Uraki and Anavel Gato arrived on the scene and killed them. The undamaged unit had already reached the Argama.

The Argama was duking it out with one of the enemy ships, a blue painted ship with a very predatory design. Its design made it resemble the head of a trident, but he had no idea what it was called. Still, the Argama was holding its own with some help from the Montblanc and its mobile suit compliment. However, they were outnumbered, as the enemy possessed 2 of the trident style ships, as well as 2 Musai based mobile suit carriers. The trouble started with the second Trident ship. It fired off its main cannons at Zechs, who dodged. It was only after to his horror he realized what was directly behind him from that angle. The colony. Zechs could only watch in horror as explosions ripped through the colony's sides, and he knew that right then, it was all but doomed.

The Archangel was just lifting off when Mu felt something was wrong. "Archangel, take cover! Incoming attack!" He moved his own suit out of the way as the shots fired by the trident ship pierced the sides of the colony and blew through to the other side, where they failed to penetrate again, leaving large craters.

"Shit!" He said, as he watched the walls of the colony start to crack from the strain. Worse, the beams had nicked a portion of the colony's central shaft, further damaging its structural integrity. He sensed another shot coming. "Archangel, down 20!" He said.

Petty Officer Neumann reacted with great speed, not waiting for his captain's permission before dropping the ship, and the beam sailed over the ship's bow. This beam did not strike the central shaft.

"Those bastards are deliberately firing on the Colony to flush us out! If we don't leave, they'll keep shooting," he informed the Archangel. It wasn't a good situation.

Cagalli stumbled inside the bay as the Archangel pitched violently. They had to be under attack again, already. She cursed vehemently. If only Kisaka were here, or… well he wasn't, so she needed to do something. He clicked the mic on her shirt collar. "Kira, can you hear me?" she asked, unsure if it would transmit amidst the minovsky particles doubtless scattered all around the battlefield.

Kira hadn't been expecting the transmission. He was busy being annoyed with his inability to do anything. Miss Murrue still wasn't giving him permission to launch the Strike, and since unlike Engisn Badgiruel Miss Murrue actually _was_ his superior, in terms of the ASAF, he needed to listen to her. Well, superior was taking it a bit far, but she was now in command of the Archangel, and it would be detrimental to undermine her authority.

When Cagalli called, he was surprised, but relieved. "Keep it down, I can hear you."

"What's going on? Nobody will tell me what's happening," Cagalli said. It was true. She'd tried some of the engineers, and some of the soldiers. Nobody seemed to know, or they wouldn't share.

"They're firing on the Colony deliberately from outside. Lieutenant la Flaga is trying to get us out of here, but there isn't much he can do…" Kira wished there was more he himself could do, in truth.

"Engineer Yamato, prepare to launch in Strike. You'll be going out in Launcher Strike Configuration, to provide heavy fire support for the ship. We're making a forceful exit from the colony," Ensign Badgiruel's voice ordered over the comm. They were finally doing something.

Moments earlier, aboard the bridge. "Good flying, Officer Neuman. But we have to do something… get my colony control. Tell them to get everyone out of the colony, eject the shelters. Inform them we are exercising emergency authority to breach the Colony's walls. We're going to punch a hole and exit through it."

"Ma'am, you can't seriously be intending to blow up even more of the colony!" Tonomura asked, shocked.

"They're going to keep shooting as long as we're in here. Just make sure you aren't shooting near a shelter. Prepare to fire Lohengrin. Alert Lieutenant la Flaga of the plan, we don't have a lot of time." The bridge scrambled to comply. Kira, meanwhile, was loading onto the catapult.

"Cagalli, get the strike teams into position, spread the word," he whispered to her. "I think we'll have a chance to take the ship soon," perhaps it was simple intuition, perhaps Kira had simply gotten impatient, but it was with wonderful timing that Cagalli began to spread the word to the strike teams.

"FIRE LOHENGRIN!" Murrue ordered, and braced for the recoil. The Lohengrins fired, blasting a new larger hole in the colony wall, and the Archangel shot outside using that hole, to find a battlefield in chaos.

End Episode 2


	3. For Love of the Earth

Episode 3 "For Love of the Earth"

Just prior to the assault on Green Noa II, aboard the Pegasus Class Assault Carrier Albion…

"Ensign, how's our time to arrival?" Lieutenant-Commander Kou Uraki asked as he stepped onto the bridge. He took a look around the familiar place. The ship had been his home for years, and he remembered it extremely fondly still. He felt relaxed, at ease.

"We are on schedule to arrive at Green Noa I for 8:10am, Greenwich mean time. No anomalies detected sir," the helmsman replied. The ship was not at alert status, so most of the crew was idling at their posts.

"Very good. Continue at speed," Kou said, and took his seat in the Captain's chair. It felt good to sit here now and again, when things were like this. He rarely got to be on the ship during alerts, since he was a pilot and the commander of the ship's mobile suit squads.

He watched space pass by, daydreaming of when they arrived at Green Noa and finished their job. He'd be able to spend some time with Nina, something he couldn't do while on duty. She was asleep, and when she woke up, she'd probably go to the mobile suit deck to see to "her" Gundams. Units GP-01 and GP-02 both sat in the mobile suit bay. Ah, Nina. He imagined a kiss, soft lips, soft hands, those luscious…

"Commander! We're receiving a distress signal! Its Green Noa II sir!" Kou was broken out of his reverie by the communication officer's sudden outburst.

He sat up straight. "Report!"

"Sir, they're saying they are under assault by unknown mobile suits, wait, sir, the enemy is using what appear to be Rick Doms sir! And they say Green Noa I is under assault by a different set of unknown mobile suits!"

Kou cursed. "Tell them we'll move to arrive with all speed. Put the ship to alert level 2, all crew to their stations! I'll get the Captain myself," He cursed again as he punched in the comm channel for the Captain's room.

A silver haired man, perhaps in his late 30s at worst, sat up from his bed as the comm flashed and beeped. Grumbling, he hit the receiving button as his companion rolled over so as to be hidden from view. "This is Gato, what's going on?"

"Captain, Green Noas One and Two are under attack sir. They are requesting aid." Gato cursed as well, but knew it had to be answered. His companion sighed in annoyance, but quietly.

"Alright, you know what to do, Commander Kou, get us there quickly, and have the mobile suit teams standby. I'll be on the bridge soon." He switched off the comm, then double checked to ensure it was off both directions. Satisfied that it was, he turned to his companion as she lay under the sheets, hair falling over her shoulders. "Nina my dear, I'll have to cut this short. Be sure you aren't seen, would you?"

Nina was annoyed, but nodded, stroke Gato's shoulder as she watched him give her a desire filled glance. "I know, we've been doing this long enough. Kou will never know. Go kick some ass."

"Of course my dear, as always." He was already getting dressed. This pastime with Nina was quite enjoyable, but it was getting dangerous. She was Kou's fiancé, he couldn't afford to be caught in such a compromising position, especially not now, when things were about to start. It didn't take him long to be ready, and Nina flung herself over his shoulders from behind in a rather erotic fashion, bedsheet wrapped around her to cover her nudity, as he adjusted his tie in the mirror. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hurry back, would you? I'm not finished with you yet," she said.

"I will do what I can my dear, but duty comes first. Stay safe, stay well, don't be discovered." He kissed her hand and exited his quarters. Nina sighed, dropped the bedsheet, and began to retrieve her clothing.

Space Federation Security Forces Captain Anavel Gato hurried towards the bridge of his ship, knowing what he was going to find. "Status report!" he ordered as he entered the bridge and took his seat in the chair. Kou was nowhere in sight, doubtless because he was, as ordered, getting the mobile suit squads ready for battle. The Albion carried 2 squads of Suits. One squad consisted of Kou's GP-01 Full Vernian, 1 RGM-79 -2 GM Custom II, and 1 GM-Cannon II. The second Squad consisted of 3 Space Leos. The production suits were a reasonably intimidating arsenal of suits, it was the Gundams, the Zephyranthes Full Vernian and the Physalis, that truly made the Albion a ship to be feared.

"Sir, we should arrive at the colony in only a few minutes, we anticipate heavy resistance. The reports we are receiving indicate multiple enemy ships, an unknown 3rd party mobile suit, and multiple squads of both Rick Doms and an unknown type of Cyclops mobile suit. Sir… is it the Malicorans?" the Petty officer in charge of the sensors asked.

"It's possible, but we can't jump to conclusions. Nobody has heard a peep out of the Malicorans for some 50 years. How soon before we get in range to launch the mobile suits?" he asked.

"3 minutes sir, before we reach minimum operation range for our mobile suit teams. Theoretically, according to the data miss Purpleton provided us, We could launch the Gundams, either one or both, at this distance, but the support suits are still outside their effective range." Gato nodded, considering. What truly perturbed him was the unknown third party, and the images on screen of the suits which had assaulted the Titans base on Green Noa I. he didn't recognize them at all. That unknown is what truly made his decision. "Launch Commander Uraki. I'm taking the Physalis. Lieutenant Vandenburg, you have the con. Keep the ship out of direct combat until you hear from me, and launch the mobile suits as soon as we hit range. Raise battle stations to level 1."

"Sir!" the Lieutenant in question saluted. Gato nodded, and exited the bridge heading for the mobile suit deck. The lieutenant stepped up. "You heard the captain. Give the lieutenant-commander orders to launch, and make sure Captain Gato's unit is ready to go. We'll launch the mobile suit teams when we reach effective range, with orders to support the captain and the commander. Keep myself, the commander, and the captain apprised of the combat situation. The ship will half 5 kilometers outside of effective combat range until the Captain orders us in. Hop to it!" The bridge crew scrambled to obey.

Lieutenant Vandenburg felt good. If he did well today, he'd be a step closer to a promotion, and perhaps eventually a command of his own. He might, he thought, even be able to take over _this_ command someday. Vandenburg was the 4th highest ranked officer on the ship, after the Captain, lieutenant-Command Uraki, and Lieutenant-Commander Trip. Trip was in charge of engineering (though not the mobile suits' maintenance) and so was not typically left in command when the Captain sortied, however, Lieutenant Vandenburg was new to the ship itself, and it was his first time being left in command during a battle.

Kou Uraki and his gundam arrived on the battlefield in time to watch the _Dominic Deegan_ sink in fire. Cursing, he turned his attention to the pair of black painted mono-eye suits escorting one of the Titans new Gundam MK II units, which he was told was a captured machine. He fired, taking one of the Black suits through the head, intending to leave it as intacted as possible, and perhaps even the pilot, and capture it, along with the Mk II. This MK II was damaged, doubltlessly from the attacks by the Cyclops units.

He was engaged in battle with those selfsame suits as the Captain arrived in his own unit. He deployed his beam saber and the pair charged in together, Kou providing covering fire while the Physalis and Captain Gato dealt with the Malicorans.

The remaining Black enemy suit started firing at Kou though, shortly after the Captain arrived, and began getting in his way. While it was on the offensive, the captured MK II attempted to make progress towards what appeared to be an enemy battleship. Unluckily for it, its thrusters exploded from damage, sending the suit into a free spin. One of the blue enemy suits fly up to it and grabbed the damaged unit, making as if to fly it away. Kou tried to shoot the enemy down, but the Black suit took his units arm off.

It pointed its beam rifle at him, preparing to fire, when a Beam Saber took it through the back, and out the chest. Kou flew away, as did Gato, as the suit exploded. The unknown enemies had seized one of the two black suits, while the other was landing aboard a white ship with a design rather similar to the Pegasus Class, but still obviously not of the Pegasus Class.

They joined the battle, attempting to beat back the assault by the unknown enemy Cyclops units, while also contending with a red unit identical to the black units, and the now identified Tallgeese mobile suit. Kou was vastly relieved when the Titans finally launched their own mobile suit teams in pursuit of the enemy. They had a mixture of Leos, the new model Hizacks, and the single remaining Mk II unit, being piloted by a Lieutenant Jerid Messa. Kou had never heard of him.

It was at this point that the 4 units stolen from Green Noa II entered the fray, blasting out of the colony and driving for the safety of their motherships. The three lead suits all flew towards the nearest of the two trident ships, while the third suit, which exited shortly afterward, paused to view the battlefield before following.

"Those are the new gundams made for the standard forces, aren't they?" said Gato. He'd just beaten and destroyed another Cyclops type, the ones with sabers.

"Yes Sir, that's them alright. The colony advised that they had been stolen before it went dark." Kou didn't like their situation. The Titans were not doing all too well, except for that gundam pilot and a single Hizack pilot. All the others of their pilots were barely holding on… some elite force. "Permission to pursue?"

"Capture them or destroy," Gato told him. "I'm going after that white ship…" The red Rick Dom and the red unknown suit were still duking it out, and that Tallgeese was disengaging from the fight around the colony docks. It was obvious it was going to make for the white unknown, which had repelled all attackers. Gato decided he could afford to ignore the trident, even if it was attacking the colony. That white ship was a thief, carrying stolen property. It was a perfect target.

"Sir!" Kou said, and his full Vernian Zephyranthes moved to engage the captured suits, interposing itself between them and the trident they were aiming for, leaving the Musai carrier to the now arriving mobile suit teams off the Albion. "Kieth, take out that Musai, I'll hold off the gundams. Titans pilots, can you hear me?"

"This is Lieutenant Kakrikon! Don't let those suits escape!" It was coming from the Hizack, the only one actually having an effect.

"Don't try to order me around," Kou said. "This is Lieutenant commander Kou Uraki in the Full-Vernian Zephyranthes. I'll tackle them from the front, hit them from behind!"

"Right!" the pilot responded. The Hizack and the Mk II picked up speed as Kou began firing shots at the incoming gundams.

Gato in his Physalis was charging full speed for the white ship, not knowing it was named Argama. It fired several shots his way, but he dodged, not being slowed until he engaged a red version of the unknown suits. This pilot dodged or parried his strikes, getting off several shots he was forced to dodge or block, one of them even skinned his knee, so to speak. This pilot was far superior to the others, it wasn't just his machine. He was on an entirely different level.

"You are, without doubt, good. I, however, am the Nightmare of Solomon!" Gato said to him, and attacked with renewed vigor, slashing and slicing with true expertise. He seemed to be pressing the guy back, but suddenly, he wasn't where he should. Suddenly Gato's sensors registered something from behind him, and then just as he spun to avoid a surprise attack he should have seen coming, the Tallgeese came up from below and removed his arm. Both enemy suits the roared away at high speeds towards their transport.

Kou, the Titan's remaining MK II and that single Hizack had managed to tie up the incoming stolen gundams for several moments with well placed fire, but when the Justice rejoined them the tables turned around again. As this all occurred, as the Tallgeese reached Gato and disabled him, Kou was cursing out one of the two trident ships, which had seemingly opened fire on the Tallgeese, only for its true target to be Green Noa II. These bastards were firing directly on the colony!

It came as nothing short of absolute surprise when twin beams came out of the colony and cut a trident off the ship firing at the colony. The entire fight seemed to pause as the Archangel came roaring out of the hole it had ripped, straight into the fight. A space equipped Zephyranthes base type came flying out with the ship, and then it launched a second mobile suit of its own.

"Are we clear of the debri yet?" Murrue Ramius asked, as she observed the fight outside.

"Yes ma'am! The ship has cleared the colony and no debris is near enough to be a danger if we continue present course!" Perfect, Murrue thought.

Natarle began ordering preparations for possible combat. The crew they had was scrambling to ensure that everything kept running.

"Ma'am, we've confirmed one Federation Pegasus-class carrier, 2 Musai Kai, 2 unknown ships that look like tridents, and a single white ship of unknown origin, which appears to be fleeing. There is a Salamis Kai with it, also withdrawing from the area." She nodded. The white ship was the Argama, no doubts whatsoever. They must have recovered what they could and decided to cut their losses.

"Give me to the Pegasus class. Also… Lieutenant La Flaga! Is the fleeing ship the one that stole the MK IIs from Green Noa I?"

"Yes Ma'am, it is," he responded. Now she had an excuse, she felt, if she needed one. As it turned out, she didn't.

"Everyone, freeze!" A group of soldiers came pouring into the bridge, their guns pointed at everyone present. Murrue stood up as one more walked in, a young person, one of the ones that had come in with the Federation soldiers. He was wearing a cap to cover his blonde hair.

He spoke, "My name is Cagalli. I am commandeering this ship for the sake of the Anti-Space Unified Fighters, or ASAF. Surrender now, and you will not be harmed." When she spoke, it suddenly became obvious that she was a woman, not a man. Of course, Murrue thought in retrospect, she should have known that.

"Did you get all that, Kira? Lieutenant?" Murrue asked as Natarle was yanked out of her chair. She was the only one interested in resisting it seemed

"Captain?" Natarle asked, surprised.

"We heard you. So the Archangel is now in the hands of the ASAF… finally. It took you people long enough," the Lieutenant's voice came over the comms.

"We have secured the ship. Most of the remaining crew are sympathizers, and several others have volunteered, Captain," Cagalli informed Murrue.

Murrue nodded to her, and turned back to the bridge crew. "As of this moment, the ship is under the control of the ASAF. You have the option of volunteering to leave the Federation and join us, or you may surrender and be placed with the others who cling to the corrupt Federation. Please choose swiftly. Helm, set a course to follow the Argama."

"Yes ma'am," Officer Neumann said, and turned back to his duties. He and Tonomura were among the sympathizers aware of the plan.

Dalida spoke up. "I'll join. I never really liked the federation, I'm only here because my family forced me to join the military."

"Officer Dalida!" Ensign Badgiruel exclaimed in surprise. This was like a scene out of her worst nightmare. She watched as the entire bridge joined this rebellion. "What's going on? How did you get so many people onto the ship?"

"It took a lot of careful planning. We had the help of the Admiral, though he didn't know it. However, that's not relevant, Ensign. What is your choice?" Murrue asked the last holdout.

Ensign Badgiruel snapped her arm out of the grasp of the soldier holding her, and straightened her cap. "I am Ensign Badgiruel of the Space Federation, and I am no traitor. Even if the federation is corrupt, this is not the way to fix it, betraying what we swore to serve. I will not join your rebellion."

Murrue sighed, but nodded. "Take her out. The rest of you, return to your positions. Cagalli, We may need that second Strike Unit, can you handle it?"

"Sure thing, just give me a moment to get back down there," she said, and dashed out, eager to try out their new gundam.

Kou, meanwhile, had taken advantage of the opening to pull something dangerous. When all the fighting had paused, one unit had actually turned its back on him to get a look at the Archangel as it exited. That was the Ronin, and Kou had grabbed it from behind. "Make a wrong move and this beam saber goes through your chest," Kou said to the pilot. "Titans, I have the Ronin, help me secure him!"

"Sir!" Lieutenant Jerid said. He flew the Mk II over and grabbed hold of the Ronin, and he and Kou, holding tightly to it, coordinated a retreat while the other mobile suits covered them.

"Green Noa I is closer, we should take him there!" Jerid argued. To him, it only made sense. He was a Titan, and bringing this to his superiors would only help his career, his dream of leading the Titans. In addition, Green Noa I WAS closer.

Kou knew that was true, so he agreed. "Alright, let's go. Cover us, we're taking this unit back!" Yzak was cussing, cursing, and trying to get free, but he was gripped tightly by two mobile suits, and unlike a great many of his comrades, he hadn't been raised explicitly Malicoran. He'd joined willingly enough, even eagerly, but he didn't want to die… not yet." So he allowed himself to be captured, or a beam saber would burn him out of existence.

The Battle of Green Noa ended with the Archangel, blocking all communications to itself, seemingly in pursuit of the Argama as Green Noa II disintegrated. The Albion was providing cover for Green Noa I as the Malicorans escaped with 4 gundams, having been the ones who destroyed the colony. Gato was forced to retreat because he had no arm, and no saber. Kou had secured the Ronin before it could escape. The Federation had also lost a Salamis kai and nearly the entire compliment of its mobile suits. The enemy, Malicore, lost several mobile suit squads, 1 Ace, and a ship, which self destructed to prevent capture after it lost a third of itself to the Archangel.

This was the "The Battle of Green Noa." This was the opening notes to a war far greater, far more terrible, than any the Earth had seen in centuries, a war even the famous "One Year War," could not compare to.

As the battle closed, a single hooded figure watched on the television screen, a head of fire red hair hidden beneath that hood, her red body suit hardly concealing her curvaceous body. Her gloved right hand rested on the table, while the other ungloved hand held a bottle of soda, as she sighed. "Damned Idiots, they had to go and make this even more complicated, didn't they? Kallen asked herself as she turned away from the TV. She had work to do.


	4. This Hand of Mine

Episode 4 "This Hand of Mine!"

Kallen was seated at the bar again, still listening to the news, muttering about the stupidity of spacenoids. She wore her favorite red body suit, an dover that her father's hooded red cloak. It was her most precious possession, well, that she could wear. Only slightly less precious was the bracelet she wore on her wrist, a gift from her mother.

"Hey, girly," a voice said as a hand landed on her shoulder. "What are you doing here all alone?" she looked up at the very large man that hand belonged to. He was easily about 7 feet tall. It was to be expected, she supposed, here in the west of the world. It seemed full of huge men. He was not precisely ugly, but rather had a general unkemptness about him. He did not take good care of himself. He had large arms, and a much larger stomach, and his beard was scraggly and his hands rather dirty. Had he actually tried, Kallen estimated, he would actually look rather handsome. Instead, he just looked disgusting. "Why don't you come play with me and my pals?"

Kallen, rather than ask him to leave her alone, or try the polite approach, chose the direct approach. She grabbed his hand, twisted, and using his own weight and her raw strength, flipped him around, then promptly planted him on his ass and then shoved his face into the floor with her foot on the back of his head, still gripping his hand. "I promise you, I can break it if you try me. Don't bug me again, are we clear?" she said to him.

"We're clear, we're clear!" he whined, desperate because of the pain and embarrassment and fear of what she might do next.

She released him, then turned around and pulled some bills from her pocket. "Sorry about the mess. Want me to leave?" she asked the bartender while paying her tab.

"Nah," he said. "They break anything, they'll pay for it. You aren't the first who needed to correct misimpressions." He grabbed another bottle and handed it to her, then pulled out another glass and a fresh cloth and started cleaning it, tossing the old and dirty one into a bin behind the counter.

Kallen smiled and sat back down. The coverage of the battle at Green Noa was still going, talking about how after the Federation's new ship set out after the ASAF's Argama, all communication had been lost. Purportedly, the Titans had commandeered the Albion and together with their own Alexandria were in pursuit of the stolen mobile suits, while a different section of their task force, headed by Bright Noa on board the Grey Phantom II, was pursuing what the news was calling "The Neo-Malicorans."

Lost communications meant that the Archangel had probably joined the ASAF, and that the feds simply didn't want to admit it. She was getting tired of the news, but she kept watching. She was waiting for the latest reports of the local attacks, not the battles in space. She wasn't here to help the ASAF, or anything of the kind. She was here hunting an enemy even her parents had been unable to defeat.

"Come on, already, just get to the local stuff, I'm not here to listen to the feds try to cover up the ASAF's hijacking their shiny new mobile suits." The Feds had tried to cover it up, but they were so corrupt they actually couldn't. The media had about 7 or 8 leaks they could exploit to get footage and news about goings on. Still though, after what the Titans did to Australia, one might think people would realize they were getting less tolerant of those leaks. Apparently not…

Finally, the local news came on. "Families of victims in last week's terrorist attack are still in mourning. Worse still, the town of Chapleau was struck by a similar incident not 2 days later. We are only now learning of this attack because of the massive devastation, no one in town was able to get word earlier than yesterday." There followed images of the small town, badly damaged.

Kallen cursed. She was still behind the monster. Every time, she couldn't track it down fast enough. She was amazed nobody had figured out what that thing really was. More probably, the Feds just didn't want anybody to know. That was typical. Still, it could prove to her advantage, because people wouldn't interfere as much.

Kallen got up and checked to make sure her tab was paid, and then she left the bar. Her father had taught her to always pay her tab. One should never leave a debt unpayed. In addition, by paying her tab, and paying in cash, it made her very difficult to track.

She walked out of the bar and started down the street and out of town. As she walked, she looked at the damage. Wawa wasn't a large town, not by the standards of what she called "large," but it was a good town. There was a decent sized lake next to it. She was heading for the Mine road, but to get there she passed through the section, nearly a whole third of the city, that had been destroyed by the Demon. Construction crews were already at work, and people would walk past and stop to look.

She was in idle thought, walking past the construction, when she heard it: the screeching of brakes and honking of a horn. Her head whipped around and she saw it. A small woman, white hair in a bun on her head, was on her knees in the middle of the street with a truck barreling down on her. Kallen did not stop to think, she thought at she ran. She was NOT going to allow this to happen when she could stop it. She ran full tilt, knowing she'd not have even half a second's leeway. She scooped up the woman and ran straight up the front of the truck as she had no time to go around it. She leapt from the peak of her run, at the top of the truck, to the sidewalk nearby.

She carefully set the lady down. "There you go, ma'am. I'm sorry if I scared you, are you alright?" Kallen asked. The woman looked flustered and was breathing quickly, but she seemed to be regaining her calm.

Hand to her chest, she grasped Kallen's hand before it could be pulled away, and tried to calm down. "Thank you dear, oh, the Lord Bless you dear, Lord bless you. I haven't had a thrill like that since Luan died. Oh, I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to all my grandkids. Dear, thank you so much," she said, holding Kallen's hand, tears in her eyes. By that time several people had rushed over, including a biker, the truck driver, two construction workers, and a mother with her small child, all to check and see that this woman was alright and thank Kallen for saving her. It appeared that Mrs. Finnigon was well liked in town.

"It was nothing, just what needed doing," Kallen tried to say.

"Nothing?" the driver said, coming over to Kallen, "I've never seen a person move like that except on the tele. I don't think I've even heard of anybody moving like that in real life in years, miss. Who are you?" he asked. That caught their attention, and several of them turned to look at her.

She blushed bright red, and stammered, "I, well, I'm…"

"Now now, you've gone and embarrassed the poor girl, Evan. You stop that," said Mrs. Finnigon, coming over with a smile on her face. "She is who she is and that's all that matters. Now come along, dear, you look underfed. I'm going to make you a nice home-cooked meal." The old lady took her hand and guided her down the street. Kallen, caught in the flow of things and not wishing to offend the woman, allowed herself to be guided down the street.

She was led to a beautiful old home painted a sky blue. It wasn't very large, and it was a single story. The kitchen was small, but beautiful, the house filled with pictures and painting and art. Kallen realized she'd been expecting something more quaint and less tasteful, but the whole place just fit together well. Dinner was a dish of oven roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, and a salad. "I'd originally intended to cook this when my grandkids visited next week, but if it weren't for you, dear, I wouldn't be around to cook it, so you eat up. I'll get another chicken tomorrow. Sally will be happy to sell me one," she said as she sat down across from Kallen.

Kallen began to eat, a little hesitantly at first, but after tasting the food, she began to eat with vigor. It was delicious, better than anything she'd had since she started this mad hunt. After the meal Mrs. Finnigon brought out a freshly baked apple pie. After that was shared between them, Mrs. Finnigon began to chatter idly. "Now dear, I know I said you didn't have to give your name, but I admit I'm starting to regret saying that a bit, I can't just go on calling you "dear," it just isn't polite. Still though, it's your choice…"

"Kallen Kouzuki," Kallen blurted out. "It's my name."

Mrs. Finnigon smiled, and nodded her head. "Well you just call me Evie, alright Kallen? Now, if you're amenable, I've got a spare bedroom here, you're welcome to sleep there tonight. You look like you could use a sleep in a real bed, I think."

Kallen smiled. This had all been so nice, but… "I cannot, but thank you. You've been extremely kind to me." Kallen bowed in gratitude.

Evie smiled as well, and took Kallen's hand. "Well, if you really must go, dear, then here, take this. It might help some day." She went over to her small dresser and dug through it for a key. Well, Kallen thought it was a key, but it wasn't anything she'd seen before, it was very high tech, yet it still looked like a key. "This was my Husbands, but I've no use for it, dear, so you take it. You need to go to Side 4's Industrial 1 Colony for the box. Unfortunately, my husband didn't tell me more much more than that. He did say, though, that this key could change the fate of the world."

Kallen almost didn't believe her ears. "Why? Why are you giving me this, Evie?"

"Because dear, I know that cloak. And I know that symbol you've covered on your hand. You are his successor, and that means you can be trusted. It is your job, afterall."

"Thank You Evie," Kallen said, and gave the wonderful old lady a hug.

It wasn't difficult to reach the lake. Afterall, it was right next to the town. Of course, what she needed was on the other end of the lake. She circled it on foot under the night sky, watching the stars. Now and then she could see a moving light that was probably a satellite, or possibly a colony. The moon was nearing full. It was pleasant and relaxing, and the cold did not bother her. Well after midnight, she reached the other side of the lake, where she had parked _it_.

It took her only hours to reach the town she sought, Chapleau, which was located to the south and east. She hid _it_ in a lake once more, this one a bit farther from town. There were rivers and bodies of water all over the place, and here too it was a bit chilly. Kallen did not want to enter town before light, so she started practicing forms and movements to pass the time.

As dawn arrived, Kallen began to stride into town. She could see the devastation easily, half the city had been leveled. The lights visible were few. Those had to be part of the rescue efforts. Kallen decided that it was best to play it slow. She wandered slowly closer to the city, glancing around at the devastation, not wanting undue attention. She was meant to stop this, but thus far, she'd yet to even catch up to the damned Demon. She was at least getting closer, she was now less than a week behind it.

Rumors abounded about the cause, most of the locals claimed it was a giant winged monster, only 1 person she talked to recognized it as a mobile suit. It was shocking, really, that so few people recognized the Demon for what it really was… what it had once been. Hadn't it been all over the televisions years ago? True, that was before she was born, but she thought more people would know what it was.

That was when she heard the radio, seated inside the local bar, miraculously standing, though its front door was missing. The radio had been playing music, but suddenly an announcer had come on. "Loyal listeners, we interrupt your music for this bulletin. A massive red monster, which some are claiming is some kind of mobile suit, is attacking the Toronto rail station, and destroying much of the surrounding city. Local security forces have found no way to stop it, and many police are already dead. We have no idea why the creature is attacking, but the military has yet to attempt anything against it…"

Kallen didn't bother running back to the lake. Time was crucial, and she was done waiting. She smiled, then she raised her hand up high, and with a soft but almost malevolent whisper, said, "Come out… Gundam." The roar of the gundam as it burst from beneath the waters and soared towards Kallen sent most of the townsfolk fleeing in a panic, though some few stuck their heads out to see what was happening.

For all the noise, the gundam landed gently in the street, kneeling down to pick Kallen up and depositing her within itself. Then the gundam stood tall, and its wings deployed. It crouched, setting into a sprinters run, and with a suddenly blast of its boosters, took off running.

The local bartender, peering out his door with the rest of the bar, watched it run off. "Was that?" somebody started, but he was cut off. "The God Damned Burning Gundam. I never thought I'd see that monster again in my life. Ya know, I had Domon Kasshu in here once," he said, to the stunned patrons. He was smiling. "Oh this is gonna be good. Gracie! Get the good TV out of the back room! We'll want to watch this!"

To call the Burning Gundam fast is to insult its speed. It was beyond mere "fast." Kallen needed perhaps 5 minutes to reach Toronto, though she was far from close by. In that time, the demon had destroyed the train station, and was ravaging the rest of the city. She could see the discarded remains of mobile suits everywhere she looked, as well as people, buildings, cars, tanks, trucks… it was horrible.

There, amidst the fire, was the Demon. Kallen felt her rage begin to build. The turned just as her flying kick crashed into its head. Kallen grinned as the mobile suit, what had once been the Epyon, crashed into the ground. Then she cringed as it took a building with it. _Fool,_ she castrated herself_, there had been people still trapped in there!_ There was no more time than that, however, for berating her stupidity, because the Demon was already standing. She kicked it up this time, knocking it into the air, then launched herself at it, attempting to carry the Demon beyond the city.

The Demon had other ideas though. Its massive wings moved and the suit began to batter the Burning Gundam to free itself, breaking her grasp and kicking her down towards the earth below. Her boosters stopped the drop, but not before the Demon was free. She cursed. Training since she was 4 yrs old had been her life. Education since she could understand what her parents were saying and before. The Burning Gundam, most powerful Gundam ever, 7 months of searching, and she couldn't even get the monster out of the city. The serrated spear on its left arm whipped towards her, and she spun out of its path, deflecting the massive beam saber in its right hand with one of her own. It was astronomically more powerful than her own saber, she dared not try stopping it cold, not yet.

The Demon swung its spear once more, but Kallen was not there. With a roar she charged in closer, using kicks, punches, holds, and beam sabers in a furious assault. It lost one arm, then part of a wing, the head, a section off the chest, and crashed to the earth. She sprang back from her opponent, panting. She blinked in horror as it started to regenerate.

_Fool_, she thought, furious. _You knew it could regenerate. Only one thing will kill it._ She cringed, her mind drifting back to her father, and her lessons. She had never learned to weild that power without rage, but rage was building inside of her. It would be enough. Her binders opened, her chest opened, and she spoke. "This hand of mine is BURNING RED! ITS LOUD ROAR TELLS ME TO GRASP **VICTORY**! ERUPTING! BURNING! FINGER!" she screamed, growing louder with each word. The hand of the Burning Gundam Glowed Red hot, and she charged, doding the spear as it swung, dodging the saber as it regenerated, and smashed the hand straight into the creature's chest… or so she thought. She missed, it dodged, it did not matter. The Demon was standing again, and it smashed her into the ground, hard, and then began to simply pound her in a blind rage. Never had she felt anything of the kind, not through all her training, all her trials to this point. Then, suddenly, it ended. The demon was gone… and she lay in a partially wrecked gundam, barely able to move.

Move she must, she thought. _I cannot be captured. I must be free… so I must run. But run where?_ Then she remembered, words spoken by her father.

"If you get in trouble down there, and she need repairs or supplies and you don't know who to trust, find a man named Howard. He did me some good turns, during the Tournament. I'm not certain the other shuffle alliance members can be found, but Howard will probably be in New York. Go there, Find him, he can help." With a painful shudder and a furious roar, the burning gundam stumbled to its feet and took off running, leaving Toronto behind even as new security forces began to arrive.

Kallen wasn't certain where she was when she blacked out, only that she was far from Toronto, in the middle of a lake, beneath the waves. It would have to do.

***'

Late that night, men surrounded a house in Wawa, Canada. They had no markings, their armor was black, their visors seemingly opaque. They burst through the doors, and took the house. They found Evie Finnigon sitting in a chair by her bed, hands in her lap, a smile on her face. "You're too late," was all she said.

The leader of those men ordered them, angrily, to search the house. Hours they searched, by the leader tried to make Evie talk, but she would not. They found nothing.

"It isn't here, sir. If it was, we'd have found it. We aren't picking up its thermal signature pattern. It isn't here, and we already know it isn't at the bank, any bank." The man speaking saluted, awaiting orders.

The leader turned to the crumpled, but alive, heap on the bloody floor. "Where is it, Evie?" he asked. "Tell me, and I'll get you all fixed up."

Somehow, miraculously, she smiled. "You're too late," she said, one more was only the second time she'd spoken since they arrived, just those same three words.

Furious, the leader pulled out his gun, and shot her in the head. As he was putting his gun away, he told the man at attention, "Find the girl, the one who visited the house. We never should have lost track of her. Find her. She must have it. It's the only explanation."

His men saluted. He returned their salute, and they began to leave, beginning cleanup and disposal. Burning the house was far too messy. The simplest way to disappear was to leave no trace, make it look like you were never there. Well, that and dispose of the body. The girl would be found… or he would be dead.

/End Episode 4


	5. Sending a Message They Won't Soon Forget

Chapter 5

"That's it, we're clear," announced the sensor monitor aboard the Argama. "We are now outside the detection range of Side 7 and Luna II." Everyone on the Bridge breathed a sigh of relief, and Captain Henken ordered the alert level dropped.

Commodore Blex turned to the view screen showing Quattro inside his Rick Dias. The man did not show it behind his sunglasses, but he was disturbed by the loss of his men, Blex was sure. "Lieutenant Quattro, how long did you say it should take them to mount a pursuit?"

The question brought Quattro's mind to the present, and he turned to the viewscreen showing the bridge. "I estimate an Hour, at their fastest. The only way it would be faster is if they have enough ships and suits already primed and ready to go. Throw in those… Malicoran ships and it could take them several days to begin pursuit. I doubt, however, they will actually allow several days to pass. More probably they'll tail us with a fast ship and hope to maneuver other fleet elements into our path."

"Which means we can expect the 4th Fleet to be in our path as we head past Sides 2 and 5? Exactly as planned, then."

"Yes, I would estimate so."

"Come on up to the bridge, Lieutenant, so we can properly debrief. Commander Zechs, care to join us?" Quattro nodded his acceptance, and began exiting his mobile suit.

"Yes, Thank You Captain," Zechs replied. He had been sitting thoughtful. Had he been asked, he'd have said much the same as Lieutenant Quattro. Going by rank, he should have been the one asked, but Quattro was better known to the crew of the Argama, having been with the ASAF since its founding, while Zech had joined up only about 5 months prior. And again, going by rank, "Lieutenant" Quattro was owed the rank of Captain, but he didn't hold it because he didn't want to.

Zechs exited the cockpit of the Tallgeese and floated out into the hangar, towards the railing. People were all over the mobile suit hangar, working on Mobile suits, making adjustments and repairs. Kamille reached the railing at the same time as Zechs, and he greeted the young pilot. "How are you doing, Kamille?" Kamille had a thoughtful, concerned look on his face, as though he was lost in more than thought.

"I'm alright, Commander Zechs, sir. I guess I just didn't really grasp what this could mean until now. Apolly and Roberto are dead… Emma has been captured… I guess I just never really expected things to go so… crazy so quickly. Is war really like this?"

Zechs paused for a moment, fingering the edge of the mask he wore once again. "Yes," he said finally, "war truly is this bad, and worse, at times. I lost many good men as a result of the events surrounding Operation Meteor. We're going to lose more, too. Those pilots off the _Dominic Deegan_ are all dead because of those Malicorans, you think Lieutenant La Flaga doesn't feel that loss? He fought with those men, LED those men. War, Kamille, is hell, but you signed on for this, don't forget that." Zechs paused, watching Kamille's face as he absorbed what Zechs was saying. Once, Zechs had been a man for flowery words, but even then he'd been rather blunt. Now, he felt, the truth was likely the best thing for Kamille.

"I… understand sir. I just… didn't know then what I know now…"

"Zechs, what are you doing to the poor kid?" asked a voice Zechs knew as well as he knew the voice of his own sister. Noin floated towards them along the railing, Lieutenant Quattro trailing behind her. "Hello Kamille," she said to the young pilot. Then she turned back towards Zechs. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" Quattro just smiled behind his sunglasses as Zechs looked at him.

"Alright, I'm going, Noin. Coming, Lieutenant?" he asked the other man in red.

"Of course, sir," They took off, leaving Kamille with Noin.

"Come on with me, Kamille, we'll discuss battle after we get you out of that suit." Noin motioned him down a different corridor, towards the pilot ready station.

"Yes ma'am," Kamille replied as Noin led him off. They were treating him like a kid again. That was why he'd left home! And yet, somehow, he felt like he knew why they did it, and it was not an unfounded reason.

In the Officer's club, Zechs, Quattro, Commodore Blex, and Captain Henken had sat down to discuss their options. They had Lieutenant La Flaga on the line from the Archangel and were listening to his report.

"We're doing pretty well on this end, actually. We've got about 2/3rds of the crew were supposed to have, which is a bit better than we had last time…" Mu's face went almost blank as he trailed off.

"Last time? I wasn't aware you'd ever hijacked a ship, Lieutenant," Commodore Blex said, intrigued by the odd statement.

"What? No, sorry sir, don't know what that was. But we're doing well, Lieutenant Murrue Ramius is currently acting Captain by dint of greater familiarity with the ship than myself." He really had no idea where that odd statement had come from, and while it felt… true, it also felt inaccurate, as though whatever hadn't happened that he seemed to remember… hadn't happened in quite the same way.

"Both Cagalli and Kira are safely on the ship, but… well we picked up a couple of civilians, students from the university, and we also have prisoners we aren't sure what to do with. Any ideas? It's using up even more of our limited personnel to keep a guard on the prisoners, and we have to keep the civilians separate, though… Kira seems to be trying to convince them to join up with the ASAF."

Blex turned to the other 3 men in the cabin. "Well, Gentlemen, what do you think?"

"We could transfer some staff from the Argama to the Archangel temporarily, to assist with more vital areas. We can't do much of anything with the prisoners until we reach the moon, however," Quattro offered.

"I agree, Lieutenant," added Captain Henken. "Best to leave them under guard aboard the Archangel for now. I'll have Craig put together a list later."

"You Say Kira is trying to convert them? Why has he taken such an interest in them, Lieutenant La Flaga? Also, where is young miss Cagalli? I had expected her to be here for this meeting," Blex asked, curious as his mind spun around possibilities and plans. More information was always useful, always.

"She was with Captain Ramius, but I believe she intended to see that her brother did not do anything stupid around the civilians. Apparently they are classmates and friends of Kira's."

"That could present a problem if they stay out of things, it could cause Kira to doubt and hesitate at the wrong moment. If they join, however, they could prove a boon. I think we shall let them decide, and hope that Kira can convince them. Alright gentlemen, best begin preparing for the drop point. It's only a few hours away."

"Of course sir," Captain Henken said. However, despite the matter at hand, Zechs' thoughts were on another matter, namely a young, inexperienced pilot. That pilot was currently speaking with a certain Instructor Noin…

"But you got the gundam to the ship, didn't you? That was your mission!" Noin argued back to Kamille, as he debriefed on the operation. "The mission and your own life are top priority. You are alive, and you delivered the Gundam. Everything else is just a result of Murphy's Law. No one foresaw the interference of the Neo – Malicorans. If we had, things would have gone differently. If they hadn't intervened, we'd have secured everything much much sooner. But they didn't, Kamille, and you reacted well. Now, you once told me that Kamille was a man's name, didn't you?" Kamille looked sullenly at her, waiting for the insult he was suddenly certain was coming.

Noin frowned, and her hand moved. *CRACK!* was the sound as it collided with Kamille's face. "Don't give me that look, Ensign! You want me to treat you like a pilot? I intend to. You want me to treat you like a man? That you must earn, and you'd best start now!"

Kamille's face clouded with anger, but, despite the burning on his cheek, he stood straight, and held his tongue. Noin nodded in approval. "Better. You are dismissed for now, Ensign. Take a shower and go to your quarters. Come see me in a few hours if you still think you have what it takes."

"Yes ma'am," Kamille said, failing, though barely, to keep the sarcastic edge out of his voice.

"Lose that sarcasm Kamille, it isn't helping you," was all Noin said as Kamille left in a huff.

He nearly collided with Reccoa as he exited, barely registering her and not stopping to say hello. "KAMILLE!" she called after him, but he continued on, ignoring her.

"Honestly, that boy…" Reccoa said as Noin exited. "Oh! Ma'am, I didn't see you. I was coming to welcome Kamille back." She saluted Noin.

Noin returned the salute and smiled. "He's really too young for this, but then so were those other 5. He'll figure it out, but he needs a stern guiding hand. It's good to see you Reccoa. I'm told you'll be leaving us in a few hours though. I'd suggest you give him a little time, then go talk to him, he'll want to say goodbye before you go."

Reccoa nodded. "That was one of the things I was here for, actually. You know, I'd nearly forgotten you had worked with the 5 Gundam Pilots during the Operation Meteor Incident."

"Yes, but that was a long time ago," Noin replied. She was not certain she wanted to talk about it, and regretted bringing it up, even accidentally.

"7 years isn't really that long, is it?" Reccoa asked, but realized it was the wrong question.

"It can be, Reccoa. I've… got things to do. I'll speak with you another time, Ensign. I suggest you finish any last minute preparations you might have for your mission. I believe we're approaching the operation point rapidly."

Reccoa could tell by her tone and her switch to the use of rank that the conversation was over. "Yes, Commander," she replied, saluting and leaving.

Noin sighed when Reccoa left. It had been unwise to snap at her like that, but to be reminded of the events of Operation Meteor was never pleasant for Noin. The only upside was that she'd been able to stay with Zechs.

The hours pressed by… and it was time.

*** Elsewhere…

"Sir! Sir, we've got a report from the 4th Autonomous, they've begun their assault at the colony," said the breathless aide as he came in to report.

The man in the chair didn't look at him. "They had best hope they perform better than Patrick Zala did… I should have left Le Crueset in charge to begin with, I suppose. Keep me up to date on Molan's progress, Nicol."

The aide, Nicol, saluted to the man in the chair, who still didn't turn to look, and left. The man in the chair continued to stare out at the stars, as his massive ship moved slowly through space towards that tiny blue planet called Earth.

Side 4 Colony Heliopolis, February 29th, 11:38am Greenwich Mean Time

People were heading on their lunch break now, as another day in the colonies slowly progressed. Dale's Dinner, in one of the poorer sections of the colony, was busy as usual. Dale was one of the richest men in this section of the colony, he owned the Diner and the repair garage around the back. He'd chosen the location because of the junkyard next door, run by a young woman named Hilde, well, run by her when she wasn't managing her infant son.

The doorbell rang as another customer came inside. It was a man with sandy brown hair in a braid, dressed as a priest. "Ah, Father, welcome," Dale's wife said as the priest took a seat at the bar. "Did you want the usual today?"

"Yes, thank you, that sounds just fine, Mercy," the priest said, looking up and giving her a roguish smile. "I'd also like a slice of that apple pie, if you don't mind, Mercy. Hey Dale, how's business?" he said, turning and shouting into the kitchen at the back.

"Business is doing great, Father! We're on the rise, as it were. I knew it'd pay off, hiring Laurie and Katie! Put a little more money out there, and things start picking up everywhere!"

Dale's wife, Mercy, turned to the kitchen as well. "That was blind luck, husband, and you know it! You hired those kids so they could afford school, not to put money into the community! And you needed the help anyways, especially with your cooking!"

"My cooking isn't the problem here, woman! I cook just fine, don't I Father?" Dale said, drawing the priest back into the argument.

"That you do, but it's the coffee that really draws the crowds, and those pies, and without Mercy here you'd have neither, Dale." Mercy smiled at the priest as he raised his mug of coffee to here, and handed him a burger and fries on a plate. In truth, Dale was a good chef, but until he'd hired Laurie and Katie, he'd never been able to cook a burger to save his life.

The priest tucked into his meal, savoring each bite, and had plenty of ketchup with his fries. He was just starting on his pie when everyone felt the colony shudder. It shuddered twice more, more violently, and all the customers braced themselves in fear. Finally, the shaking stopped, and Mercy turned to the priest, but he was gone.

Outside the colony, the Zaku and Dom mobile suits launched another missile wave at the colony's main port, and allowed it to explode just short, sending a 4th tremor through the colony.

The operational commander, aboard his Musai Kai _The Winter Dream_ finally allowed the colony port authority to reach him. "Put them on screen, lieutenant."

"Yes Sir, Captain Molan!"

"Please, cease these attacks! This is a civilian colony, a non-combat zone!"

"We are Neo Malicore. We do not recognize you, your government, or any attempts you might make to defend yourselves. We will offer you only a single chance to surrender unconditionally and forfeit all your rights. You will accept the rule and mantle of Neo-Malicore without a fight, or a great many of your people will die." Molan smiled pleasantly at the nervous man on the screen, which only made him swallow and sweat more.

"Please," the man began, "We are unarmed, we are no threat to you, please, don't do this."

"Very well, if you will not surrender… Commence the attack, all mobile suits engage. Do try to leave the colony intact, but… well… sacrifices must be made, afterall." Molan smiled pleasantly again at the man on screen as he ordered their doom, though inside his smile was one of pure pleasure. Then he shut off the view screen and closed the connection.

The mobile suit teams began moving rapidly towards the Heliopolis, blowing apart the few service bots that tried to resist them, and fired on the main gates in an attempt to blow them open. Once more, the missiles detonated prior to reaching the gates… but this time, it was not by any design of those who fired them.

"Sir! Something's happening! The missiles were taken out before they reached the target, and we've lost contact with… sir! Explosions amidst second squad! Randle's unit is offline!"

Those on the bridge of _The Winter Green_ had no idea what was occurring… but something was destroying their mobile suit teams one by one, slicing them apart before they could react. "Send a transmission back to Command! Let them know everything we're seeing and hearing, anything could be of use!" Molan ordered. "Wide barrage on all points, order the teams back, I want screening fire on all of them! Sensor stations, check for any anomaly, it could be our target! Find what's doing this!" Molan was nervous, but it didn't show visibly. He didn't sweat, didn't tremble, just watched as his efforts were in vain and he lost more of his suits.

It was unexpected when it happened. One of the suits, a rather above average pilot named Corrin, spotted something moving in space and dodged just in time to get a shot of his attacker before his mobile suit was cleaved in two by a second swing of its massive double scythe. Corrin watched in amazement as it moved on, and the bottom section of his suit exploded, hurtling him into space. Miraculously, the rest of his suit continued to operate, and did not explode. His suit continued to record what it saw as a shadow of Black Death with wings and a Scythe of Green swooped down upon his comrades.

Molan knew what was coming. Though his men now knew what they faced, none of the rest managed to see the monster before it reached them. Finally, as the last of the suits was destroyed, and the _Mondaine_ exploded to port, he saw it with his own eyes, and a message came through. It said just one terrifying, frightening thing before it destroyed _The Winter Green._ That statement was the last thing the ship transmitted to Home Command before it went forever silent.

At Home Command…

"Sir, we have _The Winter Green_'s final transmission. It's a statement from whatever attacked them," one of the technicians said as he worked at his post, screen displaying various bits of information and processing various commands.

"What does it say?" the man in the deep blood red uniform, with the blond hair, asked the technician. "Play it out loud for me."

"Sir! Playing the message now."

A short burst of static came, then words that seemed to chill the bones of almost all who heard it, though they were not certain why. "Tell them all, the God of Death is Back From HELL!"

"This… could pose a problem."

End/episode 5


End file.
